Chapter 48: Name of the Game

"Gabriella?"
"No."

"Elena?"

"No."

"Rebecca?"

"No."

"Emma?"

"Nuh-uh."

"McKayla?"

"No," said Edythe and Beau together. Sky held her hands up in defense before tossing her tablet aside.

"Fine, I fold," she said, exasperated, "You two are too difficult."

"No, we're not," Beau said, "But some names just will not work."

"It seems like all names," she countered, "I guarantee you we've rattled off hundreds of names in the past week, and no dice. You guys gotta give."

"You're fighting a losing battle, Sky," Amanda murmured as she flipped through a baby book, one of many strewn across the Cullens' living room. "You are proposing names to a century old former vampire that used to be a telepath and went through high school…"—she looked up at Edythe—"fourteen times?" Edythe nodded, half amused, as Amanda continued.

"…and had to listen to the internal monologues of humans at arguably the worst time in their development. Hell, I have a few times on my list that I would never name a child, so I can only picture Edythe's." The blonde rolled her eyes at her wife.

"Fine, fair enough," she admitted but then added, "But what they want is nearly impossible."

"Not impossible," Edythe corrected bracingly, "Just more difficult."

"You want an 'timeless, traditional name'," Sky quoted, "But not too common, but not too 'out-there'. You do realize that most common names are traditional, because they are timeless?" Edythe rolled her eyes now, flipping the page of the book she held, rather more roughly than necessary. She scanned the list of baby girl names, hoping for something to catch her interest. Nothing did though.

"We also want it to match with the middle name we have," Beau said defensively. Sky threw her hands up and dropped them dramatically, lamenting about another requirement imposed upon them.

"And I don't per chance think you'll tell us the middle name," she said sarcastically.

"No," Edythe said before Beau could open his mouth, "It's not set in stone yet. So it can change, if we found the perfect first name." Sky made an unintelligible grunting noise, but picked up the book again, just as Carine entered from the garage, dropping her keys by the back door. There was a cacophony of greetings, but one voice continued beyond the simple 'hello'.

"Your daughter is being a pain," Sky reported to the matriarch, who raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Edythe.

"Sky, this is not news to her," Amanda said conversationally, "She's aware how…opinionated Edythe can be."

"I can be opinionated on my own child's name," Edythe snapped, but then she looked up and met her mother's gaze. Though Carine had never been able to read minds, she could read Edythe's expression well enough to know she wanted to speak to her. So the vampire immediately moved toward the stairs, and the human stood, squeezing Beau's hand before following. Beau didn't even look up; he knew what Edythe was going to tell Carine, and he assured her that he didn't need to be a part of it. It was her decision, ultimately.

Carine settled in her office, but instead of taking her chair between the large desk, she made toward the sofa against the near wall; Edythe moved to sit besides her. The vampire took her daughter's hand, squeezing gently with one while the other almost unconsciously went to Edythe's swollen belly. The same entranced smile adorned her mother's face as the first time she had felt the baby kicking, but it always had the same effect, and always brought a peace to Edythe. But, wrapped in the uncertainty of the news she was relaying, it did not have the same effect. Carine didn't fail to notice.

"What is it?" she asked at once. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Edythe said at once, then smiled halfheartedly at the disbelieving look on Carine's face, "Physically, I'm fine. But Beau and I—well, mostly I—made a decision on what we want to have for the birth. And I wanted to run it by you." Understanding came to Carine's features; the couple had been pondering this for months, practically since they had discovered Edythe was pregnant.

"What have you decided?" she asked, settling in to listen.

"I do not want to go to the hospital," Edythe stated; Carine nodded, for she had figured as much.

"But I don't really want to use a birthing center, either," Edythe continued, "They're better than hospitals, but…"

"You can have the baby here; that wouldn't be an issue at all," her mother assured her.

"It's not just that though…" Edythe trailed off, unsure how to phrase the next part. Knowing it was going to come out badly one or another, she spoke without thinking it through. "I want Dr. Green to deliver the baby, not you."

There was a long moment's pause, and Carine could see Edythe's body was tense.

"I never made that assumption, Edythe," she said softly, "I will abide by whatever your wishes are. Whatever you want goes. If you don't want me or the rest of the family there, we can certainly vacate to give you and Beau the house…" Edythe interrupted her before she could finish, and the vampire paused as she saw Edythe shake her vigorously, her grip on Carine's hand tightening.

"That's not what I mean," she insisted, then clarified, "I need you to be there as my mother, not my doctor. I want someone else to take care of the medical part of it, so you could…"

Carine understood, and her face settled in a tender smile. She was reminded again of Sky's words: she will always need you.
"Of course, darling, I'd be happy to," she promised. "Whatever you need, whatever you want."

Edythe exhaled slightly, relieved, and pressed her forehead to Carine's shoulder, who chuckled as she pressed her cool lips behind her daughter's ear.

"You worry yourself over nothing, Edythe," she chided gently, "It's not good for the baby."

Edythe smiled slightly, before looking up again as she remembered the other thing she wanted to bring up.

"We need your help with something else," she said. Carine did not hesitate.

"Anything."

"We're still playing around with first names, but haven't made much progress. However, we did find a middle name we liked. I am not sure how it would go over though, so I wanted to ask you first before we told anyone else."

"You don't need anyone's approval for what to name your child, Edythe," Carine said, a little confused. "I'm sure everyone will like any name you two choose." Edythe said nothing, but pursed her lips slightly before speaking.

"We want to give her the middle name Grace," she said. Carine's eyes widened slightly, her face softening. It was obvious she knew the significance of the name, and why Edythe had asked her. Grace had been the name of Earnest's only biological child, the light of his life until his first human wife had jumped off a cliff with the toddler in her arms. It was his love for Grace that brought him to his end, and—by extension—to Carine and Edythe, over a century ago.

"Oh, sweetheart," she breathed, "That is…I'm sure your father would not mind at all."

"We didn't know if it was taking it in wrong direction," Edythe admitted, now playing with Carine's fingers. "But, though she died a tragic, too-early death, there is no way to know what might have happened if it didn't…what the family would be like…if there ever would be a family at all…" She looked up.

"You changing Earnest is when we became a family," she said. Carine knew what she meant; before finding Earnest, she and Edythe had adopted the roles of sisters, given their close physical ages. It had worked well enough, but was not reflective of the true dynamic of the creator and her daughter. Earnest's introduction formed the first functional three-person unit, and morphed the coven into a family, which only grew as decades went on.

"You are right," Carine told her, "I don't think it's taking it the wrong way. He still mourns her loss every day, but I know he would not give up what he gained in losing her."
"I know," Edythe murmured. "Once we decide on a first name, I was going to ask him directly. I've become attached to the name, but we wouldn't use it if he didn't wish it so."

"You don't have to worry about that," a voice said from the door; Carine smiled slightly as Edythe looked up in surprise, seeing Earnest standing in the doorway, his ocher eyes on her. He moved forward, appearing in front of her before she fully blinked.

"I would be honored if you decide to use her name, Edythe," he told her, his eyes boring into hers.

Edythe smiled and leaned into him, relaxing finally for the first time all day. Of course, she knew her parents were all too understanding and forgiving; she never expected them to be angry with her. But for all she had asked of them, this seemed like too much. But it apparently was not.

Earnest felt as she let him take most of her weight and his arm snaked around her, though Carine still held her hand in both of hers. His fingers grazed her face and she looked up.

"You look exhausted, sweetheart," Earnest said, his voice concerned. Edythe couldn't help but laugh.

"It is exhausting growing another human, I'll admit," she teased lightly. "Especially when she insists on keeping me up at night." Earnest smiled genially, and Carine chuckled; her hand once again moved to press against Edythe's skin, feeling the active fluttering.

"Baby Cullen is being a little rambunctious," she said tenderly, rubbing the spot where she had felt a particularly hard kick. Edythe nodded, a little exasperated.

"Always at the most inopportune times too, like three a.m., when apparently soccer is a fun sport to play, but with my spleen as the ball," she commented lightly. Though her parents laughed, they knew Edythe did not really mind the antics of her unborn child as much as she may have let on. They knew it soothed her, being able to feel the active life within her, knowing the baby was fine and healthy by the unscheduled kicks and flutters.

The trio came downstairs a few minutes later, Earnest to begin dinner—Amanda and Sky were not enthusiastic cooks and were only too happy to accept food from the vampire that so liked to spoil them with regular meals—and Carine to join the name search. But Beau looked up as they came down, his sky blue eyes finding his wife's.

"Anything?" she asked, reading the look on his face.

"Madelyne," he said.

"Madeline?" she repeated, and eyebrow half raising. The others all looked up from their books, curious.

"Yes, but spelled M - a - d - e - l - y - n - e," Beau clarified.

"Why?" Edythe asked.

"It sounds like a tribute to you," Amanda with a small smirk. "And it meets your requirements."

"Timeless, check. Traditional, check. Uncommon but not that uncommon, check. And it's feminine, bonus check," Sky said, ticking off on her fingers as she spoke. Edythe still sounded unsure.

"I guess…" she admitted, "But why spell it that way?"

"To give it a little more individual flair," Amanda said, "Just like your name. The 'i' was replaced with a 'y'."

"I don't know how I feel about a tribute to me; it seems a little narcissistic," the pregnant mother said uncertainly.

"I like it," Amanda said, "It's pretty. And it has nicknames too, if you wanted to."
"I hate the nickname 'Maddy'," Edythe retorted immediately, her face scrunching at the word.

"There's other nicknames you can use, or others you can come up with," Sky said, "If I can use Sky for Scarlett, and people use Betty for Elizabeth and Dick for Richard, coming up with something for Madelyne won't be that hard." Edythe said nothing, but her eyes were on Beau. He had said nothing since proposing the name, giving her a chance to form her own opinion. She approached where he sat on the couch.

"Madelyne Grace Cullen," she mused quietly, reaching out to take her husband's hand.

"Aww," Amanda said. She knew the significance of the name.

"It has a nice ring to it," Sky said.

"It sounds beautiful," Carine added. Edythe didn't pay them much mind, her eyes still on Beau's. She turned the name over in her head, trying in different contexts, replaying the sound of it repeatedly. Beau could see her eyes warm slightly, and he knew she liked the name too. She settled down besides him, curling up into his sides.

"Well, it definitely is better than anything we have found so far," she admitted, "But I'm not sure yet." Beau didn't respond, but he had to fight back his grin as he and Carine—and then he and Sky and Amanda—exchanged looks. Edythe was many things, but indecisive was not one of them. As she would admit only a few days later, they had made their decision, finally

Time passed slowly but quickly in the Cullen house; the days felt long, as Edythe worked nearly twelve hours shifts at the hospital, but the weeks felt short, blending together so quickly that it was nearly Halloween—and she had come upon her thirty week mark—before she really stopped to register it.

Madelyne Grace had been found to be as healthy as can be, a fact that made the future parents extensively relieved. She amused herself by keeping Edythe at all hours of the night, kicking and careening inside her womb as if preparing for a marathon. Her measurements were on point, her heart was strong, and she had shown to be negative for typical fetal abnormalities that could be tested for. Though Carine had said the test were not necessary, Edythe was too anxious and the doctor assented to ease her mind.

The nursery was complete with crib, rocking chair, changing table, and the rest of the works. Dr. Green had easily agreed to a home birth and had gradually ironed out the plans with Edythe and Beau; only they and Carine would be present, with the family convening far enough away to give them privacy.

Edythe's clients—many of which had known her since she was a technician—had periodically sent her a plethora of things while she was at the hospital; it wasn't uncommon for a small pink bag or plate of food on her desk when she arrived or stopped in during her lunch break. Everyone was shocked for how well Edythe was doing, seeming completely unfazed by the workload while carrying an extra few pounds on her abdomen. She brushed them, assuring them she dealt with far worse.

Everything was tranquil, tense with excitement, and prefect. Until it wasn't.

Edythe was actually sitting at her desk for lunch, an unusual thing for her, taking a small break between her procedures and her afternoon appointments, which happened to be particularly light. A knock on her door made her look up from the video she had been watching, seeing Sky in the doorway.

"Hey," the woman greeted her as Edythe paused the video. "How are you feeling?"

"Have't I mentioned how sick and tired of that question?" Edythe griped with a roll of her eyes.

"Yes," Sky agreed lightly, moving around the desk to sling her arms over Edythe's shoulders, "But you're the one who decided to have the little parasite. So you will need to deal with the hovering for a few more weeks." Edythe looked up with her eyebrow raised, only half-joking.

"Did you just call my baby a parasite?" she asked.

"You know I only mean it as a term of endearment," Sky joked with a wink, squeezing her gently. Edythe humphed but let it go. She turned in her chair to face the older woman.

"Is there a reason you're bothering me so rudely?" she asked.

"Yes, for I am acting carrier pigeon of the day," Sky said with a short dramatic bow. "Amanda wants to know if you feel up to doing a splenectomy this afternoon instead of your appointments. Dr. Anderson can take them if you want a crack at it."

Edythe had meant to respond with an immediate yes, but she didn't. She wasn't sure why originally, but an incomprehensible feeling seemed to wash over her. She could not pinpoint the exact emotion—it wasn't necessarily fear, or dread, or anger—but it was overall unsettling. And it did not go unnoticed.

"What? You're saying you want appointments over surgery?" Sky said with an incredulous expression at the look on Edythe's face. "That would be a first for you."

Edythe seemed to come back to herself and shook her head slightly.

"What? Oh, no…that's not…" Edythe didn't finish, the feeling still not subsiding. She felt herself tense. Sky, though hardly an empath as Jessamine was, or as in tune to Edythe as Beau and Carine always were, still knew her well enough to know something was wrong.

"What is it?" she asked immediately, her voice turning from joking to intense like a switch. She leaned forward, finally crouching in front of the veterinarian when Edythe didn't answer her immediately. The graze of the blonde's hands against Edythe's arms brought her back to reality for a moment.

"Uhhh…" Edythe said, not entirely sure herself. Preconditioned to respond, she looked up.

"You didn't see my mother on your way up here?" she asked. Sky shook her head.

"I didn't see her car in the lot," she said, but pulled out her phone to call Carine. As she placed it to her ear, Amanda appeared in passing the door to Edith's office. Her expression, originally curious and calm, immediately altered as she saw the scene before her. She was besides Edythe immediately, giving her the same look that her wife had. Carine picked up on Sky's second ring.

"Hello Sky," the vampire greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"Where are you?" Sky asked urgently.

"I just pulled into the hospital parking lot," Carine answered, surprised. "Why?"

"Edythe is asking for you," the human responded, "Something's wrong. I don't know what."

"I'll be there in less than two minutes," the matriarch promised before hanging up. True to form, Carine slipped into the office seventy seconds later. Sky moved out of the way for the vampire to kneel before her daughter, her golden eyes searching Edythe's while her intensified senses tasted the room.

"Edythe, what's wrong?" she probed gently.

"I…I don't know," Edythe admitted, "I was fine a few minutes ago, but then just this…feeling. A feeling of something bad, very bad. Something isn't right. I feel…"

She knew what she was saying was not helpful, and didn't even make sense. But nothing more was required, as Carine's cell phone rang. It was at her ear a quarter of a second later.

"Archie," she breathed. There was a moment's pause, and the vampire's face was impassive as her son spoke to her. Edythe could only take a few seconds of the silence before speaking.

"Something's wrong," she said again, her voice firmer. She didn't need to read her mother's thoughts or see her brother's visions to know. "What happened? What did Archie see?" Her demands were initially met with silence. But Carine pulled the phone away from her ear and tapped the speaker phone button.

"Archie," Edythe said unnecessarily loudly, "Tell me what's going on." There was a pause.

"Tell her," Carine said in confirmation.

"They know," Archie said after a tense pause. "The Volturi know about you and Beau. I just saw a vision of you three there, in Volterra. It will be soon. And we got a letter today. It's addressed to you, Carine."

"Open it," the coven leader ordered, her eyes focused on Edythe, who had frozen. Sky and Amanda exchanged a look, both of their faces grim, recognizing the name. There was a few seconds of silence as Archie opened and read the letter.

"It's like a summons," he reported, a little thrown, "Saying they had been informed of a breach of secrecy, and wanted you, Carine, to come to them to get the full story and your account. They also said to bring the humans which had been made aware so 'the correct action can be taken'."

There was a long silence, as the women all looked between each other.

"Can you see what happens?" Carine asked Archie, already knowing the answer.

"No," he confirmed, "I won't know until you're there, not until they hear from you and make their decision." Carine nodded once.

"Is everyone home?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Update them; we will be home in thirty minutes." With that, Archie hung up.

"No," Edythe choked out, the first time speaking since Archie had spoken. Now, her hands were tight on the arms of her chair, her body locked down, a protective measure. "No no no." The terror in her voice got Carine's attention immediately and her hands moved to Edythe's face.

"Sweetheart, look at me," she ordered quietly but firmly, gently forcing her daughter's face up to meet hers. Sky and Amanda had moved closer again, prying Edythe's hands off the desk chair. Her gip on them was vice-like, unable to contain the discord of emotions rippling through her body. Carine heard the baby's heartbeat shudder slightly.

"Edythe," she said definitively, "We need to go home. We need to get to the others. We will figure this out there."

"Madelyne," Edythe gasped, her fear for her baby outweighing anything else in her brain.

"Madelyne and you will be fine," Carine promised her sharply, a metallic edge to her voice that Edythe had seldom heard. "We will figure everything out. But we need to go home, darling. Get your things." Edythe barely understood her words, only so far as Carine assured her of the her and Madelyne's safety. Though in the back of her head she knew there was not way Carine could guarantee that, it was enough to knock her out of her panicked state and grab her things. Amanda brushed off Carine and her apologies, promising the hospital would be fine and to update them once they knew.

Carine did not allow Edythe to drive, instead ushering her into the Mercedes and heading for home. Edythe sat in the front seat as the orange, red, and yellow leaves of the forests blurred into a vibrant mass of color. She couldn't see them though.

All she could see was a set of deep black robes, and glowing red eyes.

A/N: First cliffhanger in a while, huh? The next part will be far more detailed, so it will most likely take a little longer to get out, as I want to make sure I do it justice. It will almost certainly be long too (another reason for it to take longer to get up). I hope you can survive the suspense :) See you soon!